switching teams
by strawberry-salsa
Summary: rachel needs a new flatmate and male escort noah puckerman seems to be the guy but how will the sexual tension between the two resolve itself? and are either of them really where they want to be? AU puckleberry, some femslash, don't like, don't read
1. flatmates

Okay, quick explanation, rachel is bi but likes girls more and other than that she's pretty much the same, a lil more chilled though. puck is very much the same :)

I don't own glee

please review

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'So, here's the room you'd be staying in, if you choose to stay that is, and this is the bathroom, there's a shower head over the bath, I'm afraid the water's a little temperamental but it's usually adequate. The kitchen is, as you've probably noticed, free plan into the living area although it is split…'

Puckerman wasn't really listening; his old roommate had got himself a fiancé and so had kicked him out of his flat and so he had to find someone, anyone, to flat share with him on very short notice. That and nothing else (particularly not the incredible legs and tight body of the lady showing him round) had persuaded him even before he entered that he was going to move in. The apartment was nice and although the girl acted a lot like Monica, from friends, on speed and seemed to be a little too uptight.

'So why you need to flat share in such a hurry?' he asked gazing around, not really aware that he had interrupted what the girl was saying.

'My flat partner moved in with her fiancé and although my wage as understudy is adequate to feed myself and my part-time jobs at the hospital and the Chinese take-away cover my bills it's not really enough to cover the full rent of the flat as well.'

'Wow, you know you could have just said 'I needed the money right'?'

The girl blushed and Puck noticed that she looked very cute…erm sexy, when she did.

'I tend to say too much when I am nervous and I very much need the money, you're the third person this week to see the flat and no-one seems to want it and I am so worried about being evicted and…'

Puck stepped closer & put a finger on the girls lips.

'What's your name babe?' he asked in a low voice.

'Rachel, Rachel Berry,' she replied breathily, the closeness clearly affecting her.

'Well Berry,' he said cheerfully, stepping back 'you don't need to be nervous, I'm definitely taking this apartment, may I move in straight away?'

'Erm, yes, of course,' Rachel replied, obviously flustered, 'should…do you, I mean, do you want a hand?'

A few hours later when all of Noah's stuff had been brought up Rachel was stood over a wok of noodles when she felt strong hands encircling her waist. She turned round to see Noah stood behind her, a thin lair of sweat covering his naked torso.

'Th-the food's nearly done,' she stuttered out.

'Mhmm smells delicious.'

'You don't work at mama chang's for long without learning how to cook Chinese food really well,' she said with an affectionate smile.

'I got enough time to shower?'

'Mhmm,' she says nodding.

'When I get back we should get to know one another,' he said with a suggestive wink as he turned towards the bathroom.

Rachel couldn't understand what is was about this man that made her so…so like a teenager with a crush, she hadn't got this way about a guy since high school, she'd been pretty same sex orientated (much to her dads' delight) for the past 10 years and yet this one man, this one guy who was egotistical, overly sexual and clearly a player had managed to switch her back again. She really needed to get herself a girlfriend.

Puck returned from the shower just as Rachel started putting the food out into the bowls.

'I didn't know whether you used chopsticks or not so I've put you a fork too,' Rachel said awkwardly as he sat down.

'Thanks Berry,' he said picking up his chopsticks, 'so apartment in New York, understudy, in a play I'm assuming…tell me about yourself.'

'Well, my name is Rachel Esther Berry. Esther means star cause that's what my dads want me to be. I'm understudy to Maria in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, a part my fathers have always wanted me to play. I haven't had a relationship since high school, I tended to just hook up with my flatmate, we've been friends for ages, or someone I meet at Henrietta Hudson, erm, I love working at Mama Chang's & I do that everyday after the show & on Fridays & Saturdays all day. I work at the hospital as a paid volunteer Tuesday s, Thursdays & Sundays.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. First of dads, I'm guessing gay fathers?'

Rachel nods.

'Okay, cool, and you hooked up with your flatmate? But wasn't she, well a girl?'

Rachel nods again.

'And Henrietta Hudson is a lesbian bar, so you're lesbian…cool. If you don't mind me asking, how do you have time to do ANYTHING? You seem to be constantly working.'

Rachel smiles, 'I've got lots of experience juggling my time and I'm not a full lesbian, I mean I lean that way and that's what I tell people but seen as we're flatmates,' she smiles again, 'I actually like guys too, but don't tell anyone or they'll get all fucked off cause I'm 'greedy' or something.'

Puck swallows, hard. The hot, actress chic who he's sharing an apartment with fucks women but has no problem fucking men too, he already has a hard-on, living here is going to be more problematic than he thought.

Rachel smiles again, 'tell me about you then Noah.'

'Okay, well I'm Noah Aden Puckerman but only mum calls me Noah, everyone calls me puck. Erm, I was a footballer in high school and got a scholarship to college and graduated but with low grades. One of my teachers joked that if the course had been on sleeping around I'd have passed with merit so I decided to become a male escort and that's what I am today. Obviously by the nature of my job I don't date much,' he said smiling.

'Wow,' Rachel said smiling, 'a male escort, how much do you charge?'

'About $500 for standard escort and an additional $500 for 'services', but then, I am one of the best.'

'I bet you are,' Rachel teased, 'maybe one day when I'm bored and have money to burn I can hook up with your expensive ass.'

'I might even let you, on the house of course, since I live in your flat.'

Suddenly they heard the bang of a bird flying into the window, causing them to jump apart. Rachel realised, blushing, how close to one another they had been leaning and jumped up to clear the table.


	2. friends

Sorry it took so long to upload, stupid computor wouldn't connect to the internet :(

Thank you to my reviewers (i LOVE you guys) and all of you who favorited this (even i wouldn't have favourited it yet & i'm a favourite whore so it means alot) and added it to story alerts, i hope you like this, the next chapter should be up sooner

Disclaimed

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Noah woke up the next morning feeling drugged. The few hours sleep he'd managed in the new room were not enough to cover the exhaustion he was feeling after moving. As an escort he was used to spending the night in strange rooms but usually he had been 'busy' earlier, or at very least he'd been working so hard at pleasing some middle aged office worker that he was exhausted and could have fallen asleep anywhere. It wasn't like hot, non-neurotic girls needed an escort. Remembering the girl in the room next door he almost blushed (if that wouldn't have been a totally pansy thing to do). He'd been totally out of line in the way he'd acted around her. Sure she was a hot bi young woman with a dancer's body and legs to die for, sure he'd just finished up a 2 week cruise trip with a fat, wrinkly 48 yr old who'd just got a divorce and was hornier than the hot pregnant chic he'd escorted to her high school reunion, but none of that excused the touchy-feely stuff, since when did a guy like him hug a girl round the waist whilst she was cooking? He was lucky she cooked like a pro and didn't try to kill him with hot fat! Seriously though if the manhood angel had been watching he'd be handing over his family jewels right now and he'd understand why. Noah groaned and got out of bed. He had an appointment with a young Chinese guy this evening and although it was just an evening out he always needed extra time to prep before guys, it made him worry he'd end up like his boss, Sylvester…he meant Sue. Although no-one knew for sure, all the guys reckoned that one too many 'VIP' male appointments had got to him, her and that was why he/she/it had had the operation. Not even the older guys remember Sue ever being a man but…well women just don't come that nasty or twisted.

Rachel smiled as she got out of bed; it was the third Sunday of the month which meant she got the day off from candy striping and got to spend a whole day at Mama Chang's. Although she'd never tell anyone, particularly not her dads, this was the one day she looked forward to all month. She'd been on the stage all her life and she'd out grown it, she wanted something new and she loved that she got to cook at Mama Chang's, she loved when she got left in charge of the ordering or the shopping or the budgeting, it was something completely new and she had to learn it for herself, she couldn't get coached or have any other extra support. And it wasn't just that, she loved all the bits of running a business, the extra work and long hours didn't faze her and the living on the edge as far as money went was no different to her than the last few years of New York had been. Plus she loved the people, the delivery boys didn't want her to prove herself or work harder, they just liked chatting and the people who came in didn't care that she wasn't conventionally pretty or that her voice was 'over forceful', they were just happy that she was serving them food and would laugh at their jokes.

Not thinking Rachel went to grab some breakfast as she was, half way through cooking the bacon for her bagel she heard a strangled sound coming from behind her. She turned and saw Noah's eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. Following their gaze she realised she was wearing her boy short panties and a cropped tee. Realising there was nothing she could do now she shrugged and looked towards the gob struck man, 'would you like some bacon?' she asked.

'Nah, I'm keeping kosher,' he replied with obvious effort.

Turning back to the pan she smiled, 'ditto, so tis quorn bacon, still not fussed?'

He swallowed, 'sounds good, I have time for a shower?'

An hour and two cold showers later Noah was getting ready for the gym when the apartment phone rang. Rachel was having a shower and the phone was one of the things they hadn't discussed. After a moment's hesitation Noah reached for the phone – if Rachel was expecting a caller she wanted to keep secret she would probably have told him.

'H-ello?'

'Rachel?' asked a distinctly female voice on the other end.

'No, this is her flatmate.'

'I want to talk to Rachel.'

The woman on the other end of the line was starting to annoy Puck, so he felt he was pretty justified in snapping when he asked 'who is this exactly?'

'Uh, Santana you douche bag, rache's former flatmate and best friend.' The way she said it made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Noah really didn't like that voice, so it was lucky for the phone that at that minute Rachel stepped out of the bathroom.

'For you,' he mouthed and passed her the phone, going to put his shirt on.

Rachel stood frozen for a little longer than necessary watching his muscled back retreat into his room.

'Rachel Berry spea…'

'Oh thank god rache who the hell have you got to room with, he's worse than Brittany!'

'He's not that bad San, and you really can't comment till you've seen him.'

'Oh good, more reason that I HAVE to come round, ray-berry, all this man sex is making me miss your nice soft skin and warm supple curves.'

'I finish at 8 today, you can pick me up from work,' Rachel butted in smiling, San was sure lucky artie was such an understanding guy.

'Dude, when are you gonna come and meet my girl?' Artie asked Puck again on the way to the gym.

Artie and Puck had been to college together and were as close as two guys could be without it being totally gay. Artie had been there when Puck's mum had gone through treatment for breast cancer and when his sister went missing for a week – turned up totally safe and had apparently been 'seeing what it would be like to be a ghost' in the abandoned hospital – and Puck had been there for Artie when he'd had the correctional surgery on his spine and when he was learning to walk and when he had to fight to be accepted in the dance academy. But one thing neither of them had ever done was focus on the others girls, they were gone too fast, neither of them keen on seriousness in a relationship. But now Artie was engaged to some chic and Puck didn't know what to do, it so wasn't his kind of territory. But for artie…

'Okay dude, but seriously, this is killing me man.'

Artie smiled, 'Friday?'

'Yeah, Friday but we have to go out, this is my only free Friday all month dude.'

'That's good, I need to go dancing anyway, since I got this job I've been getting the itch.'

'Yeah, but music videos man.'

'I know right? I directed one last week and I don't know who designed the costumes but there was like…nothing.'

'Sweet.'

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Guy convo is so hard to write, i hope this is male enough :S like i said the next chapter should be up quicker than this one was


	3. Date

_Disclaimed_

_Thank you to everyone who favourited, story alerted, reviewed and read, i love you all_

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The walk to Mama Chang's on a Sunday morning was the best part of Rachel's month. It was like the city was waking up and without the bustle and the rudeness and the tourists Rachel remembers why she loves New York, what it was about the city that drew her inexplicably to it from her first visit at the age of 3. Occasionally when she does an opening night or she's alone on the stage singing she remembers why she went into what she does now, but those moments are few and far between. A while back she had completed her degree that had been left half done when she got her first off-off-Broadway role as Dorothy Shaw in a version of Lorelei. Her dads had thought it a waste of time so she didn't even bother to mention to them that in the end she's actually did a double major, music and food studies. She realised later that that was probably the time when she really understood that the stage wasn't for her anymore and she realised a while later that directors could see it too. She was always going to sing and she was always going to dance but she just didn't want to do it as a job anymore, she didn't want it to be her whole life, it stopped being fun when it became your pay check she realised.

All serious thought came to a standstill when as she walked into Mama Chang's she was jumped by Mike, Mama Chang's son. Rachel loved Mike like a brother and he knew it and exploited it mercilessly, but when it came down to it, he loved her like a sister which she exploited mercilessly. Next to jump her was Tina, Mike's Sister and Rachel's other best friend (with Santana being the other one). You'd thing with Mike and Rachel having the siblings from love not blood thing going on that Tina and Rachel would have similar but it's more complicated than that. When Rachel first started working at Mama Chang's she was struggling with her sexuality in a big way, she'd always thought of herself as straight, which she mostly was, 9 times out of 10 she'd pick a guy over a girl, but it was the 1 that was worrying her. Rachel had helped her deal with who she was and the bond they had on that was stronger even than the love not blood bit between Mike and Rachel but Tina wasn't one to bitch to or spend hours gossing or being 'touchy-feely', Mike was emotional enough for everyone.

Mike was bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement when he finally pulled away from the hug. Rachel smiled, 'spill,' she said knowing he would be fairly bursting already.

'I got a date for matt's party!' he grinned, starting a beautifully complicated victory dance.

'This even I haven't heard yet,' Tina whispered to Rachel, 'so it's VERY good.'

'Ho…' Rachel started but Mike in his excitement spoke over her.

'I knew I wasn't going to be able to pick someone up, you know how shy I get in groups and crowded spaces, so anyway a friend recommended me this gay friendly escort agency and I was all like, I totally can't hire a date, it's immoral, like prostitution and then Matt called me up and he was all, 'we cool right? You're still coming?' and I was like, I just have to go and I have to take a DAMN hot piece of ass with me to make him jealous, so I got on the phone straight away and hired myself one.'

Tina and Rachel looked at each other, confused.

'So let me get this straight,' Rachel started, 'You've been looking for a date to your ex-boyfriend's engagement party…'

'Which you swore you were going to to prove that you're not still bitter or jealous about it,' Tina added.

'But you're too shy so you hired a date,' Rachel finished

Mike nodded happily.

Tina and Rachel just turned to each other again and after a moment shrugged.

That was the moment Mama Chang chose to come running out of the kitchen snatching hold of Rachel's hand. 'Bǎobǎo, hurry, I need to teach you the new recipe before we start the day's baking.'-

Mike ran squealing into the kitchen, 'he's here, he's here,' and skidded straight back out again. Despite Rachel's burning desire to go and see the 'DAMN hot piece of ass' that Mike had hired she was in the middle of mixing some tempura batter (her only contribution to the menu at Mama Chang's) and that couldn't be left half done. Thankfully the actual frying she could delegate to someone else and so she was able to be the first to reach the table in the small restaurant part of Mama Chang's take-away where Mike and his date were sitting.

The date was facing away from her as she walked up but she could tell he was feeling marginally awkward from the set of his shoulders however he was nodding along to Mike's story of how he joined the dance crew and Mike seemed to be having a wonderful time. Rachel decided that however much of a bad feeling she may or may not get from this guy she liked him already, anyone who could get Mike talking, and more importantly smiling, after his break-up with Matt was a good person in her book.

When Noah arrived at the designated restaurant to pick up his job for the evening he was nervous, he was always nervous with guys, they often were after kissing and touching that Noah simply wasn't comfortable with. But once Noah met this guy he got that it wasn't going to be like that, they 'clicked' sure, but as friends, and he really liked the other kid, he was the kind of guy he'd invite round for a halo tournament or a battlestar galactica marathon. He was actually starting to have a good time. That was when Rachel came to take his order.

Rachel seemed to know this guy and she was going to think he was like gay or something and she'd, he didn't even know but he got that people dealt differently with hearing that you were a male escort and seeing it in action. Surprisingly she seemed really happy that Mike had got him and was glowing almost (although it was probably cause she loved the job, what? He's not stupid) and Mike was really psyched that they knew one another, although that made no sense either really. Noah wrote it up as a girl thing and settled back to enjoy the amazing food (which Mike said was all cooked by Rachel and for some reason Noah didn't really doubt that).

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Saw step-up 3D last week which was my inspiration for mike's job (the dance crew)

hope you liked this and that it was worth the wait, they'll be smut in the next chapter (femslash) but i'll do the +-+-+-+-+ thing before and after for those who don't want to read it

Till next time (please review if you have any comments you want to make ^^)


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